Hannah Holland/Batty Bass
Producer based in London, UK.
Hannah Holland has played a pivotal role in London’s alternative and queer London club scene since the mid-noughties, arriving on dancefloors sharing electro tinged techno but equally inspired by the influential sounds of DnB and jungle heard at legendary parties such as Metalheadz, which she had frequented in her early teens. The cultural melting pot of London, community, musical exploration and the transcendent potential of dancefloor have always been her biggest inspiration. Having already been “borrowing” (and perhaps never since returning) Kraftwerk, Grace Jones and Talking Heads records from her parents, the influence of this metropolitan musical soup ensured that Holland emerged on the decks with a unique musical character and diverse taste, hallmarks of her sound that she has not lost since, whether undertaking residencies at iconic parties such as Trailer Trash, rocking Glastonbury’s hedonistic and spectacular NYC Downlow, or undertaking far-reaching marathon sets at Berlin’s Panorama Bar. Founded in 2009 as both a record label and party, Batty Bass began Holland’s outlet to explore the disparate strains of electro, acid, techno and house that drive her charismatic DJ sets forward, delivering party-friendly wax cuts from like-minded producers such as Josh Caffe, The Carry Nation, Mama, Lauren Flax and Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s. The imprint also provided Holland with a self-determined platform for her own music, memorably including ‘Paris’ Acid Ball’, an acid-tinged anthem that continues to summon voguing sweat in queer spaces worldwide. Holland scored another anthemic moment in 2017, in collaboration with longtime friend and creative partner Josh Caffe on ‘Fade To Me’, released on Crosstown Rebels, following the ‘Lush EP’ ft. IMMA/MESS, via seminal UK house imprint, Classic Music. Meanwhile, her powerful remixes of DJ Hell, Goldfrapp, The Knife, Planningtorock remain as forward-thinking and exciting as the acts themselves. In 2019, Batty Bass will release a wealth of new material from Holland herself, developed alongside her role writing, producing and playing with the dark-pop band, Black Gold Buffalo, who released their self-titled, long-awaited debut album in 2018. Capturing much of the same rave euphoria and timeless sound in her early work, Holland’s upcoming releases reflect the changes in the landscape of UK dance. Recent appearances have included Fabric for the extravagant Lovechild/Vogue Ball, alongside the notorious London underground parties Savage, Chapter 10 and Adonis. On the fringes of the capital, Holland is a regular at the annual Field Manuevers boutique festival, and across the Atlantic, has guested at the infamous US rave The Carry Nation, alongside her recurring appointments at Panorama Bar in Berlin.